Beautiful The Way You Are
by Fairy-xo
Summary: After the war is over, Hermione has had enough - everything has been too much, everything she has gone through has destroyed her, so she decides to leave, move far away from the Wizarding World and settle into Muggle Life. Sensitive theme at the end.
1. Hermione's POV

"I'm going, Harry," whispered Hermione as she grabbed her belongings and walked out of No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Everyone was celebrating, the Dark Lord had finally fallen, only last week, and the parties were ongoing. Hermione, however, had not been feeling in the party spirit and had not enjoyed the last week. It had all been too much; she had shut herself in her and Ginny's room and not come out until now, and she was leaving.

"But, why?"

"I have to get out of here. Tell Ron I said goodbye," Hermione ran past Harry and out into the warm, summers night. Walking along the road, it wasn't long until the Knight Bus showed up at her side and she went to Manchester. Away from anyone she had ever known.

Arriving in the centre of Manchester on a late Friday night was something Hermione had never experienced, and she got off the Knight bus and walked straight into the nearest hotel. It was no problem for Hermione, communicating in the muggle world, for she was muggle born. During the Second Wizarding War, Hermione had not lost only her parents, but herself too. She didn't know who she was anymore. She just had to get away.

"Excuse me, please can I have a room for one night?" Hermione asked the shabby receptionist; an old, bald man with worn out clothes.

"£26," said the receptionist.

After handing over the money, Hermione made her way up to her room (33) and fell straight to sleep, forgetting everything.

Hermione had disappeared amongst the parties the night the Dark Lord had fallen, walking around the grounds of Hogwarts, avoiding being found, for hours on end she just walked and walked, thinking about everything that had happened.

She and Ron were a mess; neither could admit they liked eachother and it was probably better off if they never got together anyway, and now she was gone, he and Harry could move on without her.

That night, Hermione saw a lone figure sat down by the lake, for a while, she just stared at them, throwing the occasional rock into the water. Moving in closer, Hermione realised it was Draco Malfoy, said her apologies and backed away, but he turned around on her and handed her a piece of parchment, reading:

_'__The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.'_

The next morning, Hermione set off around Manchester in the hope of work, and found herself a waitress' job at the café around the corner. Coming back to her hotel room, she noticed a snowy, white owl at the window (_'Hedwig!' What are you doing here?'_). Taking the letter, Hermione read it over and over again.

_"'Mione,_

_ Why have you left us? What did we do? Please let us know you're safe and well, we just want to see you again. Please, come back._

_Harry and Ron."_

After about the fiftieth time of reading it, Hermione threw it away, turning her back once more on her former life. Remembering the parchment Draco had given her, she walked out the door and moved on, forever.


	2. Harry & Ron's POV

_"__The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches." _Ron read out loud from a parchment he found in Hermione's things that she'd left, two weeks after her disappearance. "Well, what the hell does that mean? And who wrote this? It's too scruffy for 'Mione."

"I don't know Ron, but I think it's clear she doesn't want to be near us anymore, we should respect her decision," said a defeated Harry.

"Look mate, i'm not giving up on her that easily, alright? Now, will you please help me find her, or will I have to do it on my own?"

"Fine, but i'm not happy about this," Harry stood up and started to pack a rucksack.

"I love her, Harry!"

Harry looked at Ron, a saddened look in his eyes.

"She's beautiful, she's amazing and I really love her. I won't go down without a fight, no matter what she thinks she wants!"

"Come on then," muttered Harry. "We could try the Knight Bus, maybe Stan knows where she went..."

"Yeah, thanks mate," smiled Ron appreciatively.

Ten minutes later, and Harry and Ron were on the Knight Bus and had managed to shut Stan up with his usual speech.

"Look, do you know where Hermione Granger went? We know she used the Knight Bus," said Harry irritably.

"Hermione Granger? The girl that had the cruciatus curse on her by Bellatrix Lestrange in Malfoy Manor?"

"Yes."

"The girl captured by the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"The brunette with bushy hair?"

"YES!" shouted Harry and Ron together.

"Oh, her. She wanted to go to Manchester."

"Right," said Harry, "Take us to Manchester."

When they had sat down, Ron turned to Harry, "Why would she have gone to Manchester? That's a muggle city isn't it?"

"Maybe she wanted a bit of normality. I mean, fighting Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters isn't exactly every 17 year old's wish."

"You don't think she blames us, do you?"

"I don't know, Ron."

* * *

"Two coffee's please," Harry asked the waitress at a café in Manchester.

"Harry, what's a coffee?" Ron asked, as the waitress gave him a weird look and Harry smiled apologetically.

"It's a drink, Ron, it's very nice."

"£2.20 please," muttered the waitress, holding out her hand.

"Here you go," Harry passed her some muggle money. "Thought it'd come in handy one day."

They took a window seat.

"Maybe that waitress knows her?"

"I doubt it, but it's worth a try," Harry turned around to the waitress. "Excuse me, miss, but do you know a girl called Hermione Granger? She's a brunette, big bushy hair. You might have seen her in the last couple of weeks."

"Sorry, no brunette. But a straight-haired blonde by the name of Pauline started working here a couple of weeks ago," the waitress shrugged and walked off.

"Oh well, you never know," Ron frowned.

The door opened and in walked a blonde haired girl.

"Morning, Lisa," the girl smiled at the waitress who'd just been serving Harry and Ron.

"Pauline," Lisa nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hermione?" Ron walked up to her and span her round. "HERMIONE!"

Without a second thought, Hermione bolted for the door and ran down the street.


	3. Serenity

Hermione ran around the corner, through the hotel doors and up to her room, locking the door, Harry and Ron were on her heels and were soon banging her door down.

Hermione ran into her bathroom, where a full bath was drawn, and began to submerge herself underwater.

In the faint distance she heard Harry and Ron still banging, but it didn't matter as she drifted off into a place of serenity.

* * *

**Author's Note**

For those unsure, yes, Hermione did commit suicide; not everything works out alright and I wanted to show this (like I did with Pansy in End of Innocence) in a short story. It was initially a one shot of the first chapter, then a sequel, but I decided to make it one story with three chapters instead.

The quote I found via google somewhere.

However, I do have some good news, I will be making a fanvideo of this story, so if you want to watch out for that, subscribe to my youtube channel as it'll be the next video I make!

To find my channel, go to youtube and search for **misspansyparkinson**, or go to my fanfiction profile, as it is set as my homepage.

Thankyou for reading, and reviews are most welcome!

**Edit on Wednesday 20th August 2008, 10.38am**: I have realised, as a good friend kindly pointed out, that this story goes a little bit too fast! So, i'm in the process of revising it. Sorry about that!


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